painT

11.23.09

When my father passed in 2007 an arrow shot into my head that said, Stop waiting. Do the things you want to do. DO THEM NOW. Through my love I met an interesting individual over the computer who’s artwork and poetry found a way into my blood. We had written letters, shared art, poems for over a year and at that point I knew I always wanted shake his hand in person. I said EFF it. I’m going to LONDON. Bought the ticket and stayed with one of the coolest people I ever met in my life. You ever meet someone that just bounces on the wind and you just honor in awe the way they live their life, like living is an art form? For me it was DAVID SHILLINGLAW, a free artist and free spirit. I had the pleasure of living with him and his bro Robs in their false-teeth factory art gallery club house called NOWHERE NORTH. There I painted with David and learned about stencils, found objects, drinking strong coffee, smoking cigarettes in night clubs under tunnels and drinking real old absinthe, an ode to the green fairy that Vincent indulged in with Paul Gauguin. I mentioned the drink to him and David was like, “Oh yea man, I think I got some of that shite right here!” Dusted off the bottle, We had two shots and hit the tube train to london and that was the fastest 1 hour train ride ever. David told the story that absinthe back in the old days was made with “wormwood” real worms and if you drank enough of the stuff it would make your ears go deaf and ring. Such is the case with van Gogh who drank much of so much of the “green fairy” that in a mad rage one night he cut off the lobe of his ear. There is a lot more to that story, Paul Gauguin. David also subscribed to the philosophy of DO IT NOW and suggested I see more than just London when I was this close. I took a train to Paris and spent the night with strangers drinking champagne and dancing till morning. I also flew to Amsterdam, met up with a great friend from Dublin, Keith who is a collector of of my paintings. We walked up and down red light drew on marshmallos, drank chocolate drink and guinness and photographed every light bulb that streaked. Amsterdam is where I got see The van Gogh musuem, the ultimate collection of his work. I showed up with not a piece of food in my stomach and spent the day there. At the end i had a meal of chocolate bars. Below are some drawings I did in front of the canvases, skull and gauguin. They did not allow photography but I was able to snap one shot. I had an experience of catching up with my father, just days after he passed away. This happened in the form of a butterfly on Rockaway Beach. A neighbor complimented my physique and I said, “Oh this, my dad this!” punching my stomach hard, as soon as I said those words a butterfly flew down and attached himself to my stomach. It stayed there for at least 4 minutes. When the conversation ended he crawled onto my hand, sat on my pointer and middle finger and then flew towards our house. My Mom and our neighbor Regina was witness to this. From then on, the butterfly became the guide for me in this game of chutes and latters we call life. Actually make the game CandyLand. As I went through the tremendous amount of work at the musuem I saw a painting of a butterfly that I never even knew of. The path is lined with love. I cannot imagine myself without this trip. I can say that life so far is so up to you. You can buy the ticket or you can wait till it’s over. I say BUY THE TICKET. Bro I’ll see you when I get there.

painT drunk

I showed my mom this photo booth strip and asked what she thought. she said i looked like a monster. perfect. that’s exactly what i’m becoming. i love you ma. this was an experiment for a scene in the movie where vinny attempts to poison himself by drinking paint while he’s in the asylum. it comes from a true moment in van Gogh’s life. i went to my favorite B&W photobooth in NYC at the ACE Hotel on 29th st. I highly recommend all of you to go there and see what you look like in old time splendor. I carried my bag of three colors with me and a group of 2 girls and a guy, M & M & M, saw me pass the booth 3 times. One of the girls said, you really should go try it, it seems like you really want to!  She could tell that I was itching to get in.  I did.  I went in wild and came out with a mouth full of paint. They loved it. Moneer and her friends are from Wash. DC and were down in the city for a couple days. I told them all about painT and that i am an actor/writer/artist, they knew J2K and Z Games. I laughed, they laughed.  this feels good when you meet strangers with great curiosity and smiles and curiosity for adventure. M told me that van Gogh’s letters had been at the MORGAN Library & Museum. i was happy to smile in a time of nutso. happy to be thinking about what painT will taste like on the day. after it’s all said and done i shoulda brought a tooth brush, but the way the day tasted to me was like nothing i ever had.

electricity in the feet and neck.

12.3.09  the metropolitan museum of art is real. it is on 5th ave. and 82nd st. and if you are looking for reasons to be magic and see miracles, go in there and see jackson pollock’s autumn rhythm (number 30) or put your face so close to van Gogh heavy brushstrokes that the alarms go off and they tell you to back away from the painting like you are uncovering too much.  Also Gaugain’s tahitian women are easy on the eyes! i also say go with people who you admire and make you laugh. i took a night trip with jade and a day trip bobby and laura. bobby introduced me to autumn rhythm and how among the raw canvas of black and grey and white and tan gestural strokes was a small drip of color. i stared at it and smiled when it was revealed. the met is a key location for painT because it is where our hero visits on his first trip to NY and sees the masters.  The museum’s exterior will be the where the finale of this tale takes place. going there twice and standing in the exact locations where we will shoot one day soon give a rush of electricity from my feet into my neck. my heart beats even fast now as i type this to you. please do well to make the best of your evening tonight. go to the met. give yourself a gift. with a handshake and a smile, greg

The First Table Read -  12.9.09

Last night 15 actors got into it at SIMPLE STUDIOS NYC and sat in a round of chairs and read painT.  After pizza and introductions, it was on. i am sitting there with actors, artists, writers, an opera singer, and one cool accountant, thinking that all the words that were in my head are being held in their hands and coming out their mouth and making the world that was dreamt ALIVE. i did not know how to react to the movie taking place in front of my face.  it was insane and beautiful and scary, all at onec. are they feeling this?  when THE END was said and i looked around the room, I saw their eyes, and the connection said everything.  Everyone shared their feedback which opened up so much and I began writing on pages of anything I could find.  The emails and text messages that came later that evening gave me a new confidence in the script, i wish i can share it with van Gogh. I cannot ask for better friends and better colleagues. It hit home. Truth, Hard Work, and Faith, will see this movie off the page, onto the screen, into the hearts, and into forever. THANK YOU BIG TO LEE SEBASTIANY, JOHN TORMEY, KIM MATULOVA, JOANNA BOWZER, JERRY STILIANESSIS, NICK JOB, LARRY SHEA, LAUREN KELSTON, CHRIS GENTILE, ANNA BEILEN, BOBBY HICKS, MEGAN ARDIZONI, PENNI DANIELLE TINSLEY, and BRUCE GREENBERG. I love actors. I love saying things and doing them. I love living. i love painT. the snow came down like stars in the atmosphere. i walked outside of the bar in a tee shirt. I shut my eyes and remembered the moment forever. head tilted back slightly, chill and wet flakes of star on my skin and cool wind in through the nostrils.